Mabiano yiau



(No Model.)

M. VIAU.

ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR WINDING CLOCKS.

No. 383,786. Patented May 29, 1888.

U NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

MARIANO VIAU, OF BILBAO, SPAIN.

ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR WINDING CLQCKS.

SPECIPTCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383,786, dated May 29,1888.

Application tiled Octobcr18, 1887. Serial No. 252,733. (No model)Patented in England September 27, 1587, No.13,091; inllelgi um September28,

1887, No. 79,028; in France September 30, 18E7,No.186,143; in ItalyOctober 5, 1887, No. 22,429; in Spain November-20,1887, No. 11,752, andin AnstriirHungary January 26, 1888, No. 44,130 and No.50,l80.

To aZZ who/21 it may concern.-

Be it known that 1', llIARlANO VIAU, a subject of the Republic ofFrance, residing atthe city of Bilbao, in the Kingdom of Spain, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Apparatus forClocks, (for which patents have been obtained in the followingcountries, viz: in Belgium, No. 79,028, dated September 28, 1887; inEngland, No. 13,091, dated September 27, 1887; in France, No. 186,143,dated September 30, 1887; in Italy, No. 22,429, dated October 5, 1887;in Austria- Hungary, No. 44,180 and No. 50,189, dated January 26, 1888,and in Spain, No. 11,752, dated November 20, 1887,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in electrical motors or apparatusmore especially adapted for use in winding clocks and the like; and myinvention consists in certain novel fea tures of construction andcombinations of parts more fully described hereinafter, and particularlypointed out in the claims.

It has been generally customary, when employing electricity as a motorfor clocks, to substitute for the motive power obtained by means ofsprings or weights the power obtained from electricity in itself as theonly power for actuating the mechanism to be driven; but these deviceshave never been perfectly successful nor given entire satisfaction inoperation, for electricity requires, when it is directly applied as amotor, powerful elements and gives a small amount of power inproportion,which isvcry unsteady and irregular.

The object of myinvention is to provide improved means for renderingthis irregularity of electricity harmless when used for actuating themechanism of clocks, and to provide a motor which will give a clock orother mechanism a perfectly regular action through the medium of aweight or spring which is kept constantly wound up by the action of themotor; and a further objectis to provide a Huyghens weight-elevator toimpart motion to the mechanism to be driven, to connect said elevatorwith a suitable rheotome mechanism whereby the elevator is operated, andto provide a circuit closer and breaker whereby the operation of therheotome mechanism is started when the weight has passed downward acertain distance and is stopped when the weight has passed upwardly acertain distance.

If electricity has "not always the same constancy and power, it hasgenerally in exchange a great supertluity of velocity orspeed. Thisvelocity or speed being transformed in power and applied mechanically,the inconstancy of the electricity is made harmless to the working andapower gained which has not been hitherto found for thehcreinbefore-mentioned purpose, because it was sought for in theelectricityitself. Moreover, it is well known that power can betransformed by means of a series or train of large andsmall gear-wheelsinto spced,and by the same means, but in the reverse order, speed intopower. The construction of the hereinafter described motor rests uponboth of these principles. From this motor is obtained sufficientconstancy and power for several industrial purposes without creatingmuch cost for maintenance. Again, the neoessarily powerful batteriesused hitherto, which worked without interruption,are not required withthe new motor. This only necessitates the employment of small batteriesor only one weak element to obtain the power.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation ofthe rheotome mechanism and ratchet-wheel operated by the same; Fig. 2, adetail detached view of the armature of the rheotome mechanism; Fig. 3,a detail detached view of the shaft and wheel carried by the same whichactuates the weightelevator; Fig. 4, an elevation of the weightelevator;and Figs. 5, 6, and 7, detail detached views of the circuit-closer andmechanism for operating the same.

The motor consists of an automatic rheotome mechanism-that is to say,one or more electro-magnets-the armature of which acts as an alternatemaker and breaker of the circnit, and a socalled Huyghens pulley-elevator, whichisactuatcd by means of a ratchet wheel operated by themotion of the said ar mature.

The automatic rheotome mechanism, as

shown in side elevation in Fig. 1, is different from the clickingarrangement of ordinary bell-magnets in the following particulars:

The armature d of the electro-magnet E has on one of its ends a pawl,12, which is caused by a spring, 0, to take into a ratchet-wheel, a,which transmits the motion from the armature to a clock-work or to apulley mechanism, as will be seen from the following.

The armature d is formed in two sections, on and q, as shown in Fig. 2,and the inner end of the section at is bifurcated, and the inner end ofthe other section, 3 which carries the pawl upon its outer end, isreduced so as to tit in and be able to freely slide between the arms ofthe bifurcated end of section 00. The sections are clamped together whenin position by means of a screw or the like passing through thebifurcated and reduced ends of the sections, and the section whichcarries the pawl is rendered longitudinallyadjustable by means of a slotin its reduced end, through which the clamping-screw passes. Thus thesection of the armature which carries the pawl can be longitudinallyadjusted in its relation to the body portion ofthe armature, and theengagement of the pawl b with the teeth of the ratchetwheel a can beaccurately adjusted. The construction of the armature in two distinctparts enables the front (right) part of the said armature to beinsulated from the back (left) part by means of wood plates or in anysuitable Inannerin the joint of the two portions, so asto avoid theelectrifying or magnetization of the ratchet-pawl, and also theratchet-wheel and mechanism connected therewith.

In ordinary bell mechanism the armature has at its end a spring, bymeans of which it is either fixed to part of the base-plate or to aprojection on the base-plate. The disadvantage of this springarrangement is, that it does not allow the armature enough free play,and it is for this reason that in my automatic rheotome mechanism itisheld by means of a hinge, d", Fig. l, which enables the armature to.havethe required free motion. As it is advantageous for the armature alwaysto move in the same curve and operate the ratchet-whee1 in a regularmanner, it is necessary for said armature in its up-and-down motionalways to go to the same points. 7 In its movement toward the magnetsthis object is attained by the screw 6, which is located in the uppersurface of the armature, and is preferably provided with a flanged orenlarged head adapted toengage the end of a circuit-closing spring, f,and draw it from contact with a screw, 9, the moment the armature isactuated by the magnets, and thus break the circuit, and then the springimmediately flies to its normal position, in contact with the screw 9,drawing with it the armature. Thus it is clearly evident that thecircuit will always be broken at the same point, and that the armaturewill always follow the same pathwhen in operation, and that the limitsof its up-and-down movement will be constant quantities unless changedby the screws. At the rising of the armature the same object is attainedby arranging a bridge, h, on the base-plate over the armature, whichbridge carries a set-screw, i, for always stopping the armature atexactly the same point. Moreover, the armature is connected to thebridge h by means of a spiral spring, j, which has a continual tendencyto draw the armature toward it.

It remains to mention that for the purpose of damping the blow of thearmature two indie-rubber blocks, Z and k, are provided, against whichthe armature presses alternately in its motion.

The ratchet-wheel a, moved by means of the armature of theelectro-magnets, is prevented from moving in a backward direction 'by astop or click pawl, 1, and carries on the other end of its spindle a achain-wheel, m, Fig. 3, which forms the lower wheel in the wellknownHuyghens weight-elevator. (Shown in Fig. 4.) The upper large wheel, a,of this one is also constructedas a chain-wheel, the weights 1) and (1being carried by a sprocketehain, 0. Therollers orpulleys q p, on whichthe weights hang, move freely on the chain. The small chaiawhcel m isprevented, by means of a ratchet-pawl thereon, from moving in thedirection of the arrow, so that the wheel a will be rotated by theweight--that is, the weightresulting from halfthe difference of theactive weights.

When the automatic rheotome mechanism is in operation and theratchet-wheel a is rotated, it follows that the chain-wheel m alsorotates, and so the large weight p of the elevator rises and the smallone (1 falls, unless during the raising of' the weight the wheel aceases to rotate. This wheel a is in connection withthe train of apendulum-clock or of a balance-clock, and secures to the clock to whichit is applied a perfectly regular motion. Supposing the period offalling of the large weight is five minutes, the proper electrical motorneed only be in activity for five minutes, and only so long as isnecessary .to again raise the large weight to the required height and toallow the small weight to sink, so that the large wheel a is neverwithout the power required to keep up its motion. the purpose ofobtaining this periodical work of the motor arrangements must be made bywhich the circuit of the motor is broken and made again at the propertime. The following is a description of an advantageous mode of doingthis: The first wheel, 1*, Figs. 5 and 6, of the clock-work,whichreceives its motion from the weight-elevator, and makes, for example,one revolution in five minutes, carries a pin, 1', projecting from theside. 'Next this wheel 1 is a star-wheel, s, with four teeth arranged ona shaft, .9, so that the teeth of it sometimes must come in the way ofthe pin T, when the wheel s is correspondingly rotated. The wheel s ismoved,as hereinafter explained, and then again kept still, so that atthe time of the passing of the pin r one tooth of the For star-wheel shas reached so far into the way of the pin 2- that it can only move thestarwhecl s one-twelfth of a revolution. The motion thus given to thestar-wheel s will be transmitted to the wheclt on the same shaft-,Figstland 7,said wheel being provided on its periphery with twelve teeth andon its side with four circular ribs, as shown. These ribs t allow a noseof a lever, a, or, rather, the left arm of it, which reaches into theway of them, to ride out of the gap bet-ween two of the ribs onto theperiphery of one of the ribs as soon as the wheels 8 and tare movedonctweltth of a revolution by means of the pin 1'. The lever to is inthis manner so moved that its under arm, a, presses together the ends tow of the circuit conducting-wires of the motor, which are arranged oneover the other, and brings the said ends to to into contact, so that thecircuit is thereby completed.

As long as the left arm of the lever it rests on one of the ribs 1 theelectric circuit will remain completed and the wheel m of theweight-elevator will rotate; but as soon as the weights of the saidelevator have arrived at their highest or lowest position the circuitmust again become broken 'i. e., the end of the lever to slides off therib t and drops in between two of the ribs into a gap. This is carriedout in the following manner: The'large wheel a, Fig. i, of theweight-elevator makes (being put in motiop by the weight) one revolutionin five miniites, while the weight descends from the highest to thelowest point, and the small wheel at being only half as large as thewheel '22, the wheel at has to make two revolutions for the purposeofagain raising the weight. Under these considerations,therefore, theelectrical motor only has to work an til the wheel m has completed tworevolutions, and it must then immediately stop. For this purpose anangle or knee, 2, Fig. 3,is arranged on the shaft a, which is the axleboth of the ratchet-wheel a and of the little wheel m. Said kneesreaches to the intermediate wheel, 2, Figs. 6 and 7, and can take intoits teeth,so that when the wheel t has revolved one-twelfth of arevolution and the motor has commenced working the knee after the firstrevolution of the shaft a, moves the intermediate wheel, I, the distanceof one tooth, and after the second revolution of the said shaft moves itround a second tooth. Now,while the knee is moving the first tooth ofthe wheel t, the lover it remains resting on the rib t, which isopposite to it, and slides on its periphery; but as soon as the kneemoves the second tooth of the wheel 2, the lever u slides by its ownweight off the rib 1/ into the gap between two ribs, thereby releasingthe contacts 10 to, breaking circuit, and causing the motor to stop immediately. At the same time a tooth of the starwheel 5;, Figs, 5 and ti,has arrived within reach of the pin 0, and the before-described motionstake place again after five minutes have passed.

It is .not always necessary that the pin a" on the wheel 9, Figs. 5 and6, should move the star-wheel s one-twelfth of a revolution, as it maybe desirable,in order to avoid the disadvantageous stopping of theclock-work, that the pin r on the wheel r should only move round thestar-wheel a little more than one twenty-fourth ot' a revolution, andthat the necessary further rotation for the entire onetwelfth revolutionmay be executed by the pawl 2, employed to prevent the backward mot-ionof the wheel it. To obtain these results, the teeth of the wheel 15 mustbe made equilateral and equiangular, and the pawl 2, supported, asshown, by means of a strong spring, 3, must have the obtuse angledshape, as shown. Supposing the star-wheel s is caused to make a littlemore than one twenty-fourth ofa revolution by means of the pin r, thepressure ofthe spring 3 will be overcome and the pawl 2 will be raisedso far out of the teeth of the wheel t that the top of the pawl 2 willcome together with thetop of the next following tooth of theratehetwhcel I, and then slidealittle over the top. The force of thespring 3 will now move the wheel t farther round until the pawl 2 snapsintothe next space, whereby theleftarm of the lever a has arrived on oneofthe ribs t, and so the circuithas been completed by means of thecontacts 20 w. The rest of the Opera'- tion is as before described.

The number of teeth andthe size of the wheels can be varied as desired,the above being only given as an example. Moreover, the circuit can bemade and broken by any other suitable means instead of by the lever to.

The entire mechanism works briefly in the following manner: Theelectricity causes the armature of the automatic rheotome mechanism tomove to and fro. Said armature moves the ratchet-wheel, and thistransfers its motion onto the weight-elevator, which transforms speedinto power, whereby the mechanism itself controls or directs theelectricity to produce a regular motion.

By this inventiona motor is obtained which can be employed for clockmechanism, as also for other industrial purposes requiring small power.

It is clearly evident that numerous slight changes might be made in theform and an rangement of the parts described without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not wish to limit myselfstrictly to the precise construction herein set forth, but considermyself entitled to all such changes.

Having now particularly described and as certained the nature of thisinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I

2. The combination,with a weight-elevator, of a shaft carrying aratchet-wheel and a wheel or pulley to operate the weight-elevator, andan automatic rheotome mechanism, the armature oftherheotome mechanismbeing adapted to operate the ratchet-wheel, and hence the elevator,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an automatic rheotome mechanism, ofa shaftadapted to be driven by the armature of the same, a wheel or pulley onsaid shaft, a weight adapted to be raised by the rotationof said pulleyor wheel, and an additional wheel or pulley communicating motion to themechanism to be driven and connected with and operated by the downwardpull of said weight, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with an automatic rheotome mechanism, of a wheel orpulley in termittently rotated by the armature of the rheotomemechanism, a wheel or pulley imparting motion to the mechanism to bedriven, and an endless chain or the like carrying weights, whereby thewheel immediately con nected with the rheotome mechanism is adapt ed tooperate the chain and weights independently of the other pulley, whichis operated by v the weights independently of the pulley which raisesthe weight, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with an automatic rheotome mechanism, of theherein-described weight-elevator, one wheel or pulley of the samecommunicating motion to the mechanism to be driven, and its other wheelor pulley adapted to be driven by the armature of the rheotomemechanism, and an automatic circuit breaker and closer connected withthe wheels or pulleys of the elevator, whereby the operation of therheotome mechanism is stopped and started automal ically, as set forth.

6. The combination, with an automatic rheotome mechanism, of aweightelevator communicating motion to the mechanism to be driven andintermittently operated by the armature of the rheotome mechanism, anautomatic circuit breaker and closer, gearing connecting said breakerand closer with the weight-elevator, whereby the operation of therheotome mechanism is stopped when the driving-weight has passedupwardly a certain distance, and gearing connecting said circuit breakerand closer with the mechanism operated by the weight, whereby theoperation of the rheotome mechanism is started when the weight haspassed downward a certain distance, as set forth.

7. The combination, with a rheotomemechanism and aweight-elcvator, of ashaft rotated by the armature of the rheotome mechanism and adapted tooperate the weight-elevator, an automatic circuit breaker and closer forthe rheotome mechanism, gearing connected with said circuit breaker andcloser, a lug or projection upon the shaft, adapted to operate saidgearing when the shaft rotates, additional gearing connected with thecircuit breaker and closer, and a wheel actuated by the downward pull ofthe weight and provided with a lug or projection to engage and operatesaid lastmentioned gearing, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

MARIANU VIAU.

Witnesses:

E. VALERo HEIN, J OSE DE ARNIBABRY.

